WASHINGTON, D.C., MAY 6, 2011 (Zenit.org).- The U.S. Bishops are lauding the House of Representatives for the passage of the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act.

Deirdre McQuade, assistant director for policy and communications of the Secretariat of Pro-Life Activities at the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, noted, "By passing the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act, the house has taken a decisive step toward protecting human life, reflecting the will of the American people."

The bill, which passed Wednesday with bipartisan support, underlines a government-wide policy against taxpayer subsidies for abortion and abortion coverage and provides for better conscience protection for health care providers.

McQuade noted that is "protects the civil rights of health care providers who conscientiously object to involvement in abortion."

She continued: "Robust protection of conscience rights is essential for Americans' access to life-saving health care.

"The great majority of doctors, nurses and hospitals do not perform elective abortions; Catholic health care, the largest and highest quality nonprofit health care network in the country, rejects all direct abortions.

"To penalize these providers or push them out of the system would cause great harm to patients most in need."

The bishops have been calling for the passage of this act over the past few months.

Cardinal Daniel DiNardo of Galveston-Houston, chairman of the conference's Committee on Pro-Life Activities, wrote a Jan. 21 letter to Congress emphasizing that "the federal government should not use taxpayers' money to support and promote elective abortion."